72 Year Institution GUIDING LIGHT Canceled by CBS

We Love Soaps has learned that 72 year television and radio institution, GUIDING LIGHT, the longest running program in broadcast history, has been canceled by CBS. The cast and crew were notified this morning.

The show has drastically improved over the past several months and fans, myself included, were hoping CBS would give the show another year to try and raise the ratings.

GUIDING LIGHT has proved in the past few months that story trumps budget on a daytime soap. Despite having the lowest budget of the eight daytime serials, GL has been one of the best soaps on the air. The Olivia and Natalia story has created buzz like the show has not seen in many years, and the return of Grant Aleksander as Phillip Spaulding has been a creative success.

The cancellation by CBS does not have to mean the show is dead. Procter & Gamble can shop the series to other networks or create an alternative method for keeping it alive. I'll post my thoughts on this later.

"No show in daytime or primetime, or anytime, has touched so many millions of viewers across so many years," said CBS daytime exec Barbara Bloom. "We thank the cast, crew and producers--past and present--who delivered this entertainment institution..."

GUIDING LIGHT began life in 1937 as a 15-minute radio serial, before switching to a 15-minute soap on CBS in 1952 (while continuing to air on radio until 1956). The series moved to a 30-minute format in 1968 and expanded to an hour in 1977.